A Mind Trapped in a Body

II

 My van had two front seats and two rows of bench seats directly behind. Behind this space was room for two wheel chairs side by side. Normally I would have 6 passengers that occupied the seats and two wheel chairs with patients strapped to those chairs. Before I can explain the next incident, I must first explain the music and how we determined who would sit where. Who ever had this route before me, had placed the passengers in the two bench seats. The passenger seat in front remained empty. The radio station had been set by the director and was not a station that I enjoyed. So, on one of my first trips, I asked the passengers if I could find another station. As I was turning the dial, I happened upon an “oldies rock and roll” station. I asked if this station was ok and since we were all new to one another, I was met with silence. In time, various patients would join in and sing along with a familiar song. Each trip, morning and evening took around an hour and a half not counting the time involved before I picked up my first passenger or after I dropped off my last passenger and headed back home. At my first pickup point on the morning run, I picked up one young gentleman, I suppose around 30 or 35 years of age. He was almost always a little late. Not enough to cause any problems with my route, but giving me a few minutes to become acquainted with the staff of the home. The reason that he was late was that the nurse responsible for getting him dressed and fed worked at another job and always ran a few minutes late arriving at this home. This man had Lou Gehrig's disease. He had been a tour guide before becoming ill. He had progressed to the point that he could not control his bodily functions, so he wore a diaper. He could not control his hands, so he had to be fed. He had to be cleaned by a caretaker. About the only thing he could do was manage a mis-aligned smile. You could tell when he was happy and that was an almost constant thing. While waiting for him, I would go into his room and talk to him. Of course it was a one way conversation as even a grunt was almost beyond his control. As I understand the disease, even though he gradually lost the use of all muscles in his body, his mind remained clear. He had a collection of base ball caps and pictures from Playboy. He seemed to enjoy watching TV. I loaded him along with his wheel chair into the back of the van and the other two passengers also climbed into the van. We began the lengthy trip to pick up the rest of the patients. We picked up the rest of the patients and as, by time, the patients were becoming comfortable around me, the van was fairly noisy. Then out of the blue, I heard this young man trying to sing along with the song on the radio. An outsider would not have recognized any “music” in the noise he made, but as I looked in the rear view mirror, it was oblivious he was trying to sing. The effort required soon took its toll and he was quite again, just as I had always known him. His soul, his mind, trying to escape the prison of his non-responsive body.

Comments

[Judy Best]

Unity Village Orchards/Gardens
Gerald -
This is a test comment - See you tonight! J